Contextful vs Universal Research MCP

In-depth architectural comparison of the Contextful and Universal Research MCP MCP servers. Compare execution transports, security boundaries, tool capabilities, quality scores, and ready-to-paste client installation snippets for Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, and VS Code.

Which MCP Server Should You Choose?

Choose Contextful when:

• You need dedicated capabilities in the Knowledge & Memory domain.
• You prefer local stdio subprocess transport architecture.
• Your security boundary fits: No auth required (Free / Open Source).

Explore Contextful Details

Choose Universal Research MCP when:

• You need dedicated capabilities in the Knowledge & Memory domain.
• You prefer local stdio subprocess transport architecture.
• Your security boundary fits: No auth required (Free / Open Source).

Explore Universal Research MCP Details

Feature & Specification Comparison

Specification	Contextful Knowledge & Memory	Universal Research MCP Knowledge & Memory
Summary	Efficient context management: code search, evidence packs, and memory for coding agents.	Provenance-first research memory with hash-bound evidence and a fail-closed eligibility gate.
Category & Scope	Knowledge & Memory	Knowledge & Memory

Tools & Capabilities Breakdown

Ready-to-Paste Client Configurations

Paste either (or both) of these JSON server blocks into your client config file (e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json).

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "contextful": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@inferensys/contextful"
      ]
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "universal-research-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "--from"
      ]
    }
  }
}

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